Nathan's ... ...

High Ropes Course & Startup Lessons

We got “tricked” to Oharui Farm this afternoon for the Activation Boot Camp 2. The reason I said tricked is there is a Live Wire High Ropes Course, which is the scariest thing I’ve done for a while. Also I was amazed by some start up lessons I leaned from doing the high ropes course.

Everything seems easy when you are watching others

Watching others doing the high ropes is pretty easy. All you gotta do is cheering, laughing and thinking “It would be totally sweet when I’m up there”. It’s the same as watching others starting up a business, especially when watching someone started a successful business. “It’s not a big deal, I had the same idea. I could totally do it if I chose to”. The reality is? you would know what the reality is once you started doing it.

The hardest part is when you start, especially the first few steps

I wasn’t expecting doing a push up on a beam 10 metres above the ground, I had a hard time even take my first step. I can see my leg shaking once I was up there. It was one of the moment when you body doesn’t want to listen to your mind. However, once I’ve done that and think again, it was the first few steps the hardest. Once you’ve done that, you will get through. Most start up business fail in the first couple of years. It’s the initial hurdle you need to get though. I’m not saying it will be absolutely blue sky after that, but it’s definitely the most challenging part.

It may take more than 1 try to get there

I was scared to death and had to give up at the first attempt. But the moment I got off the staple, I knew I would regret it for a very long time if I didn’t do this thing again. So I waited till everyone had their attempts and did it again. And this time, I walked from this end all the way to the other. I don’t know it’s the first failing experience made me stronger or I learned to trust the rope a bit more or the cheer from other activists got a bit louder. The fact is, I did it. So maybe your first startup failed for whatever reason, as long as you learn from it and do it again and again, there will be another chance to succeed

The reward is sweet

Sailing down from the beam felt great. But the accomplishment felt even greater. Starting up a company is not easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Expecting difficulties and struggles along the way, I am sure the victory will be sweet.